PANAMA CITY — With a few herbs hanging on in the back yard and the same meals showing up on the table week after week, it was time for a “Greek Revival” in our home.
Patricia Moore-Pastides shares tips on how to grow your own ingredients and provides 50 fresh recipes in her award-winning “Greek Revival from the Garden: Growing and Cooking for Life” (University of South Carolina Press, 2013), a companion to her “Greek Revival: Cooking for Life.”
The First Lady of the University of South Carolina, where she teaches healthy Mediterranean cooking classes, invites the public to share in her “Simple and Delicious Path to Better Health and Sustainability” during BooksAlive on Saturday at Florida State University-Panama City.
“I didn’t come to writing about food because I’m a chef or anything, but because my background is in public health, so I knew the Traditional Mediterranean Diet was one of the healthiest on the planet,” said Moore-Pastides, who has a master’s in public health from Yale University. “This kind of cooking is easy and it doesn’t use a lot of ingredients.”
Having a “Greek Revival” is more than just picking up a cookbook and trying recipes, it’s a manual to a lifestyle transformation that starts from the ground up. Moore-Pastides sought the counsel of Charlie Ryan — chief horticulturist at the University of South Carolina President’s House. She gives steps on how to grow vegetables in containers, raised beds or in the yard.
“Container gardens are fun for younger people. Schools now have gardens, but they’re also great for college students moving into apartments. ... And nice for newlyweds who have a home and want to start a little garden,” she added.
She even offers suggestions for specialty herb gardens, salad bowl gardens, even pizza gardens.
“We all tend to go in the market and buy the same vegetables every week and cook them the same way every week,” said Moore-Pastides, who also teaches adults and children through Columbia’s Cooking!, a community program offered by the University’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program. “I discovered people are eating out so much they are far away from growing their own vegetables and preparing dishes. I felt there was a need to growing our own vegetables and cooking them. I knew if they got excited about growing them they’d be more excited about trying them.”
Though the recipe photos by Keith McGraw, photographer and taste-tester, are works of art, this is not a coffee table book. In less than two weeks, the pages of Katie’s Classic Eggplant Parmesan already have the remnants of olive oil and bread crumbs.
Since I didn’t have three homegrown Ichiban Japanese eggplants in my garden, I substituted one large eggplant from the grocery store.
“I just made eggplant with my class. We bought from the supermarket because our garden is slim at the moment, but the recipe works really differently with smaller vegetables from the garden,” Moore-Pastides said. “Usually the supermarket ones are so big, kind of on the dry side. It can be really bitter, but the salt lets the water come out and helps get rid of the bitterness.”
One large eggplant gave me 24 rounds, which I salted and set aside in a colander. After 30 minutes, no water was noticeably draining until I patted them with paper towels. The result of the cooked eggplant was slightly crisp on the outside and tender inside, but not mushy. They had so much flavor they didn’t need anything. I really liked the fresh parsley, which was still bright green after cooking. When I reheated them later, I ate them as an appetizer dipped them in ranch dressing.
“Ranch was my niece’s suggestion,” Moore-Pastides admitted. “It is not really Mediterranean, but I am trying to appeal to an audience who likes ranch dressing and this is a step in the right direction with fresh ingredients.”
The Yogurt Ranch Dressing also was amazing for carrots. I forgot to get green onions from my garden, but it was still wonderful with the fresh herbs and bites of garlic. Impatient, I didn’t drain the nonfat yogurt or let it sit 30 minutes after it was finished before I first tried it. Though it was good, it would have been thicker and held up better if I had used a fine-mesh sieve. If you don’t know what a sieve looks like, there is a section with names and pictures of cooking equipment.
“I recognized I had college students who didn’t know what kitchen equipment was, so I decided to write the book pretty basic for novices of all ages,” Moore-Pastides added.
She strains the nonfat yogurt because it will continue to separate, but if you want to skip straining, she suggests nonfat Greek yogurt.
The Chunky Savory Tomato Sauce also is suggested for serving over Eggplant Parmesan. The saucewas really thick, so my husband added a little water to it. Despite its appearance though, it was deliciously juicy and packed with flavor - tangy, salty, smoky and garlicky with a little spice, over pasta.
“It gets really concentrated. Fresh tomatoes tend to be a little dry this time of year,” said Moore-Pastides, who suggests using a carton of Pomi tomatoes when they are not in season. “You do find that if you go out in the garden and pick those tomatoes they are moister. I love the oregano flavor with that sauce. We use it all the time on pizzas and tossing with pasta.”
We usually have everything we need for the Pure and Simple Oven-Roasted Summer Squashes, except summer squash, which I plan to change when it comes time to plant. Some of the roasted yellow squash got a little brown on the edges for a little sweetness. My husband and 8-year-old son liked this recipe as much as I did.
“You could do any vegetable that way. Just slice it up and put on the olive oil. Wait until you bring it out to salt or it will be more steamed. Roasting it caramelizes and turns it a little brown. You can do eggplant like that. I just usually brush eggplant with olive oil and put it under the broiler in the oven.”
Test a couple of Oven-Baked Kale Chips with Sesame Seeds before baking a whole batch to be sure they don’t brown. Six minutes was a little too long, but it didn’t stop me from indulging in the entire bowl of light and crispy greens.
“They do go down fast don’t they? I can eat a whole bag of kale in the afternoon if I turn them into kale chips — and not feel guilty about it!” Moore-Pastides said with a laugh.
The refreshing Real Fruit Sodas recipe is so simple that it seems like something I should already have been doing — but I wasn’t. I just combined Perrier with orange juice, ice and a squeeze of lime, but any seltzer water or fresh juice will do.
“Grapefruit is good, too. The citrus is always good. Cherry is something they use a lot of in Greece,” said Moore-Pastides, who has made it with San Pellegrino. “My grandchildren like sparkling cider but you could do this and just use apple juice. You also could just add some herbs and make a fake mojito.”
For something a little sweeter, Executive Chef Darek Tidwell, former chef for Presidential Events & Carolina Catering at the University of South Carolina, shared his recipe for Nut-Crusted Creamy Almond and Fruit Tart. Tidwell is now the Executive Chef at George’s at Alys Beach, 30 Castle Harbour Drive, which reopens for the season on Friday.
“Greek Revival” (GreekRevivalCookbook.com) is a winner of the 2014 Eric Hoffer Book Award, finalist for the 2014 International Book Award, and it received a gold medal for the 2103 Mom’s Choice Award and Silver Medal for the 2103 Living Now Book Award. Proceeds from the sales of the cookbook, available at BooksAlive, benefit the University of South Carolina Pastides Health and Sustainability Fund.
RECIPES: The following recipes are from Patricia Moore-Pastides’ “Greek Revival from the Garden: Growing and Cooking for Life.”
Chunky Savory Tomato Sauce for Pasta or Pizza
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 chopped Roma or plum tomatoes
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3 dried bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- A sprinkle of red-pepper flakes (optional)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium to medium-high heat. Cook the minced garlic just until it is light golden in color. Lower the heat if necessary to avoid burning the garlic. Add the chopped tomatoes, oregano, bay leaves, and sugar and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon to combine. If you like a bit of heat, add red-pepper flakes to taste.
Let the sauce cook on a steady boil, stirring occasionally until the water from the tomatoes has been reduced by about two-thirds. If the sauce begins to stick to the pan, lower the heat. The sauce should not be completely dry, but it will be more savory when most of the water has evaporated. This sauce needs 15-20 minutes to cook depending on the type of tomatoes you use. Season the sauce with ½ teaspoon of sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Remove the bay leaves before using the sauce.
Serves 6 as pizza topping or 4 as a pasta sauce.
Pure and Simple Oven-Roasted Summer Squashes
- 2 medium-sized zucchini squash
- 2 medium-sized yellow squash
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees on the convection setting. Slice the zucchini and yellow squashes into ¼-inch thick rounds. Spread out the slices on two baking sheets with sides and sprinkle 1½ tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil on each pan. Using clean hands, spread the oil over the squash, coating the slices lightly on both sides. Sprinkle the dried oregano over the squash.
Roast the squash in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the slices are browned. Remove the pans from the oven using pot holders and place them on trivets. Using a spatula, remove the baked squash rounds from the pans and place them on a serving platter. Lightly sea salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4.
Katie’s Classic Eggplant Parmesan
(This is based on a recipe from Katie Stagliano of KatiesKrops.com, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to start and maintain vegetable gardens and donate the harvest to feed people in need.)
- 3 Ichiban Japanese eggplants
- ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- Sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup nonfat milk
- 1½ cups dried bread crumbs
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup finely chopped parsley
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Cut the eggplant into ¼-inch slices. Lightly salt the slices and put them aside in a colander set in the sink to drain.
Prepare the three shallow bowls as follows:
FIRST BOWL: combine the flour, ½ teaspoon sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
SECOND BOWL: stir together the eggs and milk.
THIRD BOWL: combine the bread crumbs, minced garlic, and finely chopped parsley.
Dry each slice of eggplant with a clean kitchen towel. Dip a slice of eggplant in the first bowl and coat it well with the flour mixture; move the slice to the second bowl and coat it well with the egg-and-milk mixture; move the slice to the third bowl and coat it fully with bread crumbs. Repeat this procedure with each slice of eggplant.
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add several coated eggplant slices and cook them about 3 minutes per side (or until golden brown). Remove the browned eggplant to a plate covered with paper towels. Continue cooking slices of eggplant until all are browned. If the oil begins to smoke, lower the heat a bit.
Dust the warm eggplant with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Katie’s Classic Eggplant Parmesan is delicious served with Chunky Savory Tomato Sauce or with Yogurt Ranch Dressing.
Serves 4 as a dinner entree or 6 as an appetizer.
Oven-Baked Kale Chips with Sesame Seeds
- 24 tender kale leaves
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons whole sesame seeds
- 2 sprinkles of sea salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees on the convection setting. Wash the kale leaves, removing and discarding the center stems. Tear the leaves into pieces about two inches by two inches. Dry the kale in a salad spinner and then blot with a clean kitchen towel to remove excess water.
Put the kale pieces in a large bowl and pour the extra virgin olive oil over them. Using clean hands, rub the oil onto the kale pieces to coat them thoroughly.
Spread the kale pieces in a single layer on the baking sheets with sides, making sure they do not overlap. Sprinkle the kale lightly with sesame seeds. Place the sheets on racks positioned in the center of the oven.
Set your timer for 6 minutes and check the kale at that stage. With a single layer of chips they should be done, but they may need to cook another minute. The kale chips should look dark green and dry. If the kale turns brown, it becomes bitter.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and slide the chips into a bowl using a metal spatula. Lightly sprinkle them with sea salt and eat immediately. Yum!
Serves 4 (but I can easily eat all these myself!)
Homegrown Carrots with Yogurt Ranch Dressing
- 1 quart organic nonfat or low-fat yogurt
- ½ cup low-fat or nonfat buttermilk
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- White parts of 3 scallions (green onions), finely minced
- 1 small bunch of chives, finely minced (2 tablespoons)
- 1 small bunch of parsley, finely minced (2 tablespoons)
- 1 small bunch of dill, finely minced (2 tablespoons)
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground (dry) mustard
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large bunch of homegrown carrots
Spoon the yogurt into a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl and let the liquid drain into the bowl for a minimum of 20 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.
Discard the liquid (whey) from the yogurt.
Place the remaining, thick yogurt in a mixing bowl and add ½ cup low-fat or nonfat buttermilk.
Add the minced garlic, scallion, chives, parsley, and dill, as well as the paprika, dry mustard, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Stir well to combine the ingredients and refrigerate the dressing for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors blend.
Serve with julienned carrots.
Real Fruit Sodas
- ½ glass juice of your choice (such as cherry, pomegranate, or orange)
- ½ glass sodium-free seltzer
- A squeeze of lime juice (wash the lime first) or a bit of fresh mint (wash the mint)
Combine the juice and seltzer over ice, stir with an iced-tea spoon, and add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and/or a sprig of fresh mint.
MEET THE AUTHOR
- Cookbook author Patricia Moore-Pastides will be discussing ‘Greek Revival: A Simple and Delicious Path to Better Health and Sustainability’ during BooksAlive on Saturday from 10-10:45 a.m. and 2:30-3:30 p.m. in Room: B211 at Florida State University – Panama City.
BOOKS ALIVE 2015
- What: 16th annual festival of reading and writers with guest authors Mary Alice Monroe, Olivia deBelle Byrd, Chervis Isom, Marjory Wentworth, Carolyn McKinstry, Patricia Moore-Pastides, Michael Morris, and Paul Leonard (executive director of Habitat for Humanity); keynote speakers Bill Curry and Carolyn Curry; presented by the Bay County Public Library Foundation.
- When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; Literary Luncheon with the Currys is 12:15-2:15 p.m.
- Where: The Holley Academic Center at Florida State University-Panama City, 4750 Collegiate Drive, Panama City
- Cost: Author presentations throughout the day are free; advance tickets for the luncheon with limited seating may be purchased for $30 at two library locations: Bay County Public Library, 898 W. 11th St., Panama City, 522-2100, and Panama City Beach Public Library, 12500 Hutchison Blvd., 233-5055
- Details: BooksAlive.net